Nellis honors fallen airman who died disarming bombs in Afghanistan
Senior Airman Michael J. Buras’ name, which already graced a highway in his native Georgia, now also adorns a building at Nellis Air Force Base.
Six years after Buras was killed by a bomb blast in Afghanistan, more than 500 Nellis airmen participated in an annual 5k run in his memory Wednesday as the sun rose through a cloudy sky over the base.
A couple hours later, with his family seated in the front row, the newly renovated building that houses Nellis’ bomb squad — the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit — officially was dubbed the Buras EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Facility after the “Hurt Locker” guy who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country on Sept. 21, 2010.
“He died doing what he loved. That is an American hero,” said retired Maj. Gen. Timothy Byers, who bonded with Buras’ family after his death.
Buras, a Tifton, Georgia, native grew up in Fitzgerald, 25 miles northeast of there. “Mickey,” as he was called, brought a teamwork mindset developed playing soccer as a child to the dangerous job of bomb disposal technician, a position that has claimed the lives of 20 Air Force members since 9/11.
On the day he died near Hendu Kalacheh in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, “He had cleared a safe path to two IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” the general said, comparing his attitude in the military to his soccer days, when he would say, “I got this, coach.”
After completing that task, he was guarding the area when a third IED hidden nearby exploded.
His dad, John Buras, said his 23-year-old son “had no regrets” about facing danger.
”He do it 15 times over to make sure his team was safe and his country was free,” he said.
Before his death, Michael Buras already had been awarded a Purple Heart medal for wounds suffered in 2009 as a gunner during a roadside bomb explosion that rocked the mine-resistant vehicle he was riding in.
Posthumously, he also was recognized in 2011, when Georgia’s Highway 129 became Senior Airman Michael J. Buras Memorial Highway.
At the end of Wednesday’s building dedication ceremony, Buras’ 7-year-old daughter, Maddison, waited patiently in her cyan dress until dozens of airmen simultaneously shouted “fire in the hole!,” then punched a button that set off a blank round in the distance.
She then picked up her Teddy bear and slapped her grandmother, Joy, a “high-five.”
“Good job,” her grandfather said proudly.
Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2
